


To Kill a Friend

by essencede



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, Assassin! Catra, F/F, Lesbians, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Sorceress! Adora, Trauma, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-12
Updated: 2021-01-12
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:55:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28704027
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/essencede/pseuds/essencede
Summary: “Your job is to take out Adora Weaver. If you can kidnap her, do so - the ransom would be great - but sorcerers are tricky, so killing her may be the easiest option,” Hordak drawls, handing Catra the file on her next victim.If the name didn’t ring a bell, seeing that face sure does. Catra avoids staring at the page too long. She tries to keep her face as neutral as possible as she nods her head.If anyone is going to kill Adora, it should be her. Not some stranger.“Do you accept, Catra?” His empty eyes stare into hers. It’s as if he knows that she knew Adora.“Yes,” she replies, keeping her voice steady and her eye contact unwavering.
Relationships: Adora & Catra (She-Ra), Adora & Shadow Weaver | Light Spinner (She-Ra), Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 46





	To Kill a Friend

Catra and Adora cuddle up in bed together, the thin blanket wrapped tightly against their bodies. They face one another, noses almost touching, breaths mingling with every whisper. Adora smiles at their closeness, feeling at peace, and while it would be difficult for humans to see, Catra can. The moonlight seeping in through the bedroom window helps improve her view. Catra can see Adora pretty clearly, while Adora makes out the basics. She can see the way her eyes shut a little when she smiles and the small dimple on one side of her face. Catra flushes at the beautiful sight. She bites her lip, grateful that Adora can’t see the warmth in her cheeks. 

“Adora?” Catra whispers, her voice barely audible but still raspy. 

“Yeah?” Adora raises her eyebrows, meeting Catra’s heterochromatic eyes.

“We’ll always be together right?” Catra reaches out, her hand grazing against Adora’s. Adora quickly grabs the appendage and stops herself from kissing Catra right there and then.

Adora breaks out into a grin. “Of course. When we get out of here, it’ll be awesome. I’ll miss Hope, but we’ll get a nice house with our own bedroom, like we talked about, right?” 

Catra chuckles quietly, being considerate of the children around them. “Yeah, yeah, I can’t wait,” she admits shyly. She presses her forehead to Adora’s like they always do. “We’ll get a big couch to sprawl out on. It’ll be amazing.”

“It’ll be ours,” Adora adds and Catra grins, her fangs showing. 

“It will be.”

Adora moves her face to kiss Catra’s nose. She scrunches up her nose. The magicat holds back a laugh but she doesn’t hold back on her big grin. Adora moves to kiss her freckled cheeks and Catra’s skin buzzes with the touch. The heat there increases and increases, rushing to show her embarrassment and appreciation. 

Adora wishes she could kiss each freckle but that would be too much, treading into territory she’s scared to go to, but she’s always going to show Catra her love in ways like these. 

“Goodnight, Catra,” the blonde whispers, ending her goodnight with a final kiss on Catra’s cheek. She squeezes her hand intertwined with Catra’s, and Catra squeezes back like she always does.

“Night, Adora.” Catra kisses Adora’s forehead, before shutting her eyes, moving just an inch from Adora’s head.

They continue to face each other, side by side. Their hands remain intertwined under the sheets.

***

“Adora, meet Mrs. Weaver,” Hope introduces the two with a big smile on her face. It’s genuine, meeting her tired blue eyes.

“Hello, Mrs. Weaver,” Adora greets the woman before her. She fakes a smile, hiding her fear. She suspects the woman can tell anyway. Her eyes, not visible behind her mask, pierce Adora’s.

The woman in front of her is pretty terrifying. Even though she’s not skilled with magic, she can sense the magic coming from this woman. It tickles against her skin, almost like the way Catra’s fur tickles her skin, but different. Bad. Cold. It’s hard to describe but Adora immediately doesn’t like it. She fidgets with her fingers and bites her bottom lip. The silence is heavy while it lasts.

The woman is looking her over, inspecting her, until finally, she speaks, “Hello, Adora. It’s nice to meet you. I sense great power within you, child.”

“Um, thank you?” Adora looks over to Hope for help.

Hope clears her throat, continuing to smile but now it’s a bit forced. “Mrs. Weaver is a great sorcerer. One of the best. You’ve always had a lot of magical energy, Adora, and I’m sorry I couldn’t afford to send you anywhere to explore this part of yourself, but Mrs. Weaver is interested in taking you in as a student. It’s a big chance for you, Adora.”

The blonde stiffens and covers her mouth. She stares at her feet, unable to meet their eyes. Since childhood, she’s been told she’s powerful, or at least has the potential to be. She’s heard so many good things about magic. The chances it offers, the good it could do and the jobs. With it, her and Catra could get out.

But Catra…

Adora can’t leave her. She loves her. They promised they wouldn’t leave each other.

“I know what you’re thinking, Adora, but you could still visit,” Hope offers, walking over and placing a hand on Adora’s shoulder. 

“I can give you your own room, a big house, many chances, and power. Adora, you owe it to yourself to use the magic within yourself. No one should stop you,” Mrs. Weaver states sternly. “I can make you into a powerful sorcerer, child, and for no fee.” 

“Why? What do you gain?” Adora questions her motives. Her face scrunches up. Hope’s grip on her shoulder tightens as a warning.

Adora feels the magic crackling against her skin. Her heartbeat picks up but she doesn’t stop staring the woman down.

“Hmm,” the woman hums and the crackling subsides. “Stubborn, but powerful. I like that.” Adora continues to glare, looking for an answer. She arches an eyebrow. “I’m just a lonely sorceress, unable to have a child. So I chose to adopt. And why not adopt someone who can understand magic, understand me?” Her voice softens and she rests a hand over her heart.

“I know the feeling,” Hope whispers and Adora bites her lip, feeling a little guilty for challenging this woman. “Adora, please think carefully about this. This is your chance to get out of this town and make a name for yourself. You and Catra could get out of here.”

“I don’t want to leave her. Could you take my friend, Catra in? She’s a magicat and she’s my best friend,” Adora begs weakly. 

“Sorry, but I’m only interested in taking one child in. Like Ms. Hope here said, you can visit.” 

“I have to talk to Catra about this,” Adora finally decides.

“I’ll be back in two weeks to hear your decision, Adora.” Her eyes pierce Adora’s again and while this woman seems like bad news, both her and Hope are right. This is her chance to get out of this town and follow her and Catra’s dreams.

With a quick goodbye, Mrs. Weaver is off.

It takes a while for Adora to get out of her head and off the couch. She enters the large bedroom to find Catra curled up in their bedsheets. 

“You said no, right?” Catra immediately asks and Adora slumps, leaning up against the door before sliding down to the floor. She picks at her pants and tries to smooth the creases in them.

“I said I’d talk to you,” Adora replies honestly.

“Do you want to go?” Her tail lashes under the bed sheet. Adora watches it like a target.

“I don’t really like Mrs. Weaver and I don’t want to leave you—“

“But you want to go,” Catra cuts her off, finishing her thought. “Like everyone else,” she whispers. Being compared to Catra’s parents - who left her in a box in Hope front door, as if she was trash - breaks Adora’s heart. 

“I don’t want to leave you, but this is my chance to make something more of myself. I can get us money and we can finally get that house we dreamed of.” Her blue eyes light up and she moves her hands when she speaks.

“You’re already enough, Adora. You don’t need to become some crazy magician,” Catra argues, sitting up and tossing the sheet to the side. Her tail lashes, the movement becoming quicker and quicker. Adora notices the panic in Catra’s features. She’s getting ready to run. 

“I don’t need to, but I want to. I asked for her take you with me—“

“But let me guess, it was a no?” Catra cuts her off again. She scoffs. Adora goes to reply but Catra cuts her off. “Whatever, Adora. I thought you were different. We made a promise. Just fucking break it. Leave me behind and become some great magician! I hope it makes you happy!”

The magicat goes to leave but Adora stands up and blocks the door.

“Catra, please, listen to me,” Adora begs, bottom lip trembling. “I-I want to go with you, Catra. I do. But I can get us out of here and make a life for us. I think I should take the chance.”

“Fuck off, Adora. I don’t want to hear it. Leave. I knew you were going to leave me behind.”

“Catra, please—“

Catra pushes past her, her claws grazing against Adora’s skin. She whimpers at the feeling. It’s worse than the usual pricks but it’s not super bad. Still though, Catra rarely ever hurts her. Usually when Catra scratches her, it’s an accident. Usually when Catra scratches her, she turns back and apologizes. She takes care of the cuts.

This time, Catra gets on all fours and sprints down the stairs. 

That night and every night after, Catra sleeps in her own bunk. She ignores Adora. On the bus. In school. At the house. In their own damn bed.

They can’t stop arguing and while Adora felt empathy for Catra, with every hiss, lash of her tail and every curse sent Adora’s way, she started to feel angry herself. How could Catra be so selfish? This was better for them. Adora could take this chance to make something out of herself. She always struggled with academics anyway. Magic could solve this issue. It could be her calling. Her career even.

She started to question how healthy her and Catra’s relationship was? The way Catra was scratching her at times. The way they yelled and argued. Was this okay? Was Catra always this controlling? And how far was too far?

Gods, Adora was so confused and she had no outlet for these thoughts. She couldn’t tell Lonnie, it would get back to Catra and worsen things even more. She couldn’t tell Hope, she worries enough. 

After a week, Adora can’t handle this. She’s so sick of missing her best friend, of reaching out beside her and finding cold sheets, not a purring feline. She hasn’t seen Catra smile or laugh in a week. Gods, it’s like she’s getting withdrawals. 

So she climbs up onto Catra’s bunk in the middle of the night, making the girl hiss and growl.

“What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Doing.” 

“Reaching out to you. Catra, please, I miss you so much,” the blonde’s voice wobbles. She holds back tears, yearning to hug Catra but she knows she can’t go that far.

“Shut up. You’re choosing to leave me, now live with it, little miss perfect. Guess your studying paid off, huh?” She curls up and turns away from Adora. Her tail smacks Adora’s cheek.

“Catra, please, I love you,” Adora finally lets the words out. She doesn’t bother to whisper them either. She’s wanted to scream them from the rooftops for forever. She’s been too afraid to speak them but at this point, she’s afraid of never speaking to Catra again. She would rather just get it out there. Catra should know. She wants her to know. Adora needs a response. She needs Catra.

She’s met with that squeaky laugh, the laugh she loves but in this moment, it makes her stomach churn. Her cheeks burn red with embarrassment. 

Lonnie wakes up in the bunk next to them at the loud laughing and scoffs. She tells them to quiet down. 

“What a joke.” She chuckles. “You love me? Yet, you’re leaving me in a week, to go be better than all of us in this shitty home. Go play fucking magician. Fuck off, Adora. Seriously.” She slaps Adora’s cheek again with her tail. It’s not super hard but it wakes her up.

Adora has no other response to that. She climbs down and curls up by herself, heart aching. She does her best to prevent the tears from falling. She focuses on her breathing. She doesn’t want Catra to know she’s been crying. She doesn't deserve to know.

Several days later, Adora leaves. She doesn’t say goodbye to Catra. She wants to. She wants it so bad. But after admitting her feelings and being rejected like that, she can’t take more rejection. She doesn’t want to be laughed at or hissed at.

So when she closes the front door to the home, she knows this is it. Her heart breaks. The friendship is done and now, she leads a new life. It’s over, but she still loves her. How could she not? It’s Catra.


End file.
